Search giant Google has opened its office in the country and acknowledged the Philippines as one of its key markets in Southeast Asia.

"The Philippines is a key country in Southeast Asia in terms of its digital economy and tech-savvy population," Julian Persaud, managing director of Google in Southeast Asia, said in a statement.

“We’re here for the long term,” Persaud said as he showed support to the new leadership team in the Philippines.

Google Philippines country manager Narciso Reyes said Google's local office will help Filipinos get more out of Google."

"Having a local team here will mean a lot more engagement with our Pinoy users and partners."

"We envision Google Philippines as a part of everyday Filipino lives.Families of 11 million OFWs can build stronger family bonds through tools like Google Hangout," Reyes said.

Reyes said Google Philippines' aims to contribute to the country's development by addressing the needs of three constituents: users, publishers, and advertisers.

Among Google's innovation for the Philippines will include adapting its services including Gmail and video chat to work on less reliable Internet connections, easy and instant access to Google Search, Gmail & G+ on internet-enabled phones & smartphones charge-free.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has also brought its entire system to the Google Cloud, wherein data for teachers alone equal 17 petabytes of storage. Google Apps for Education are now used by 50,000 students of Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle universities.

Google Philippines will also help provide a platform for local businesses and the Philippine government reach out to new markets overseas. "It’s not just consumers who are going online, millions of businesses globally are also moving online."

"Making digital a part of business strategy will allow Filipino businesses reach a wider audience."

Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III said the Aquino administration is fully cognizant of the power of the Internet and the government is effectively using it.

Google's Person Finder, map of shelter locations and Crisis Response Map prepared by Google's Google Crisis Response Team were used as aid tools during the onslaught of Typhoon Pablo in Mindanao.

Google's business office is located in Makati's central business district.